Hooda bends Modi wave in Haryana

Bhartesh Singh Thakur

Chandigarh, June 4

Right from the beginning of the electioneering, it was a trial by fire for former CM Bhupinder Singh Hooda as he was to tackle the Modi magic and improve the Congress’ seats and vote share to secure the pole position before the Assembly elections slated for September-October.

It was an uphill task as the Congress got nil in the 2019 elections with a vote share of 28.514 per cent. With five parliamentary seats in 2024 and a jump in the seat share by over 15 per cent to 43.67 per cent, Hooda has not only managed to bend the Modi wave with a better strategy, but also served an ace to his rivals within the party.

First, Hooda changed all candidates, except his son Deepender from Rohtak, who had lost by a thin margin of over 7,000 votes in 2019. By bargaining hard for tickets for Raj Babbar from Gurugram, Divyanshu Budhiraja from Karnal, Varun Chaudhary from Ambala, Satpal Brahamchari from Sonepat, Rao Dan Singh from Bhiwani-Mahendragarh and Jai Prakash from Hisar, he not only cut his rivals down to size but also balanced the caste equation in each seat.

Second, he perfectly localised the parliamentary elections. For the last four and a half years, his every statement during the press conferences, interviews, and public meetings revolved around hitting at the Khattar government and now, the Saini government. He was hardly critical of Narendra Modi and Amit Shah. When asked why, he astutely answered, “I don’t talk about individuals. I only talk about issues.” On the other hand, BJP candidates sought votes in the name of PM Modi.

Hooda went to each constituency, exploited anti-incumbency against the state BJP, raised the issue of unemployment, 2 lakh vacant jobs in government offices and the Agniveer scheme, and managed to transfer the Jat vote in his candidates’ favour. The farmers’ agitation propelled the Congress, too. Third, he successfully labelled regional parties such as JJP and INLD — which thrive on Jat votes — as “inconsequential” or “B” teams of the BJP or just “spoilers”.

Result: The Congress’ vote share at 43.67 per cent is the highest since 1989 even as the party had contested on nine seats as the Kurukshetra seat was given to the AAP, a part of the INDIA bloc. The JJP was reduced to less than 1 per cent votes, and the INLD below 2 per cent. For Hooda, the victory of Jai Prakash, Brahamchari and Chaudhary was crucial as it validated his choices. He can take pride in the fact that the victory margin of Deepender is the highest among all five Congress Lok Sabha MPs as he won by more than 3 lakh votes. Hooda is now not only the tallest leader in the party as his rivals couldn’t rock the boat despite the best of their efforts, but is also a strong candidate for the chief ministerial post in the faction-ridden party.

Good indication

The vote percentage has been good. The results are a clear indication that we are going to form the govt in the upcoming state Assembly elections. — Bhupinder Singh Hooda

Leaderspeak

It is the people’s victory. This a stamp on the works done by former Chief Minister Manohar Lal Khattar and Prime Minister Narendra Modi. — Nayab Singh Saini, Chief Minister

There was a wave in favour of the Congress. We were sure that we would perform better. We are surely forming the government in the state in the upcoming Assembly poll. — BHUPINDER SINGH HOODA, CONGRESS

We are grateful to the voters of Kurukshetra. The AAP got 5,13,154 votes. The leaders and party workers put in sincere efforts to support INDIA bloc nominees. — Sushil Gupta, AAP